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Carlos, is it possible that the offseason dieting weakened you for pitching? After all, you could be losing muscle as well as fat, and going below the weight that is healthy for you. I’d thought your weight helped with the velocity, and the fact that the velocity has dropped off seems like it could be linked.

Also, I wouldn’t worry too much about people who criticize you for emotion. Zambranos are like that, we are competitors. Just because we have adrenaline and emotion when competing, does not mean we can’t be calm and logical the rest of the time. They judge you that way because they only really see you when you’re pitching, not the rest of the time. Better to care a lot than too little and be apathetic.

Carlos, I’m one of your biggest fans and my Spanish isn’t very good so I’m going to respond to you in English if that’s okay. I’ve been a true Chicago Cubs fan my entire life and have seen some good and bad pitchers along the way, and when I saw you first come up I felt you would always be one of the best pitchers. I’m not sure what you’re doing now but I don’t see you pitching the way I’ve seen Carlos Zambrano pitch when you’re the best! I’ve seen your 1 hit and no hitter games and those are among your best. I have read and heard you say you want to pitch more like Maddux and yes Maddux is a great pitcher but I come to the ballpark to see Carlos Zambrano pitch like Carlos Zambrano…not pitch like Greg Maddux. When you try to hit the corners and get ground ball outs that’s not the Carlos Zambrano I know and like to see pitch. It seems to frustrate you when you don’t get the calls you want and that doesn’t make you pitch better. I like to see you mixing all your pitches and speeds, pitching fast and striking the batters out. I like to see you challenging the hitters. I’m going to be at Tuesday night’s game when you pitch against Oakland and I hope to see the real Carlos Zambrano pitch. I know you’re a better pitcher than what we’ve seen lately so I hope you can finish the season on a positive note. No matter what, though, I will always root for you because I think you’re terrific – I like your passion – you always give 110% and you always want to win. Go Carlos and go Cubs!

Carlos, you have fans still who will support you regardless. The media only sees what you have done for the past few weeks or months, but you have done a lot for the city and the team over the years. The media are fickle.

Enjoy yourself, don’t worry what they are all saying, be confident. Stress and overthrowing will hurt your ability to pitch as well as you can. The team needs more passion and energy like yours – we need will to win and refusal to quit. You are the soul of this team.

Great pitching today! I noticed you have been working on your mechanics since 2004/2005 (I saw one game then when you threw 102 mph). You used to use a high leg kick similar to Kyle Farnsworth or Joel Zumaya but have now begun using a deliberate, pronounced delivery with a low leg lift more similar to Greg Maddux.

I had control issues recently pitching for an independent league team that disappeared when I looked at the catcher’s glove during and after the set position. Just keeping my eyes locked on all the way through really helped. Also, bringing the arm all the way back instead of short-arming (another tendency of mine) can change velocity also.

One last point – don’t worry too much about the baserunners. You can even pitch without using the stretch if you use a pickoff trick I know of – pickoff by turning the opposite way to the next base. So if the runner is at first base and you think he wants to steal 2B, pickoff to 2nd base instead of 1st. Since runners key on the back foot of a right-hander coming off the rubber, they will be unable to pick up that it’s a pickoff if done at the same speed as the delivery. Just turn around to the left instead of right and pickoff casually to 2B – if the runner is going they will be a dead duck.

Hey Z, hope you don’t take those comments by Theriot too seriously. This was a guy who really did not want to leave – same as Mark DeRosa, Corey Patterson, Todd Walker, Greg Maddux, and Nomar Garciaparra. The Cubs were his home, fans and he didn’t want him to leave.

Those comments about the organization not caring about winning were I think a rip on management, not the team I think. I don’t think he was trying to attack his ex-teammates, so much as the top of the organization like Hendry or whoever had him traded. He’d tell you the same thing I am sure.

Had management used you properly on four days rest instead of 5+, I’m sure you’d have had a great season. 16 of your 24 starts in 2011, 2/3, were with 4 days of rest, and you had a 3.29 ERA in those starts. I wish I could’ve told management they were using you wrong, but all I can do is post about it on a Cubs message board that management apparently never reads. Unfortunately, management does not notice basic things about statistics that would help win games. That’s on them, not you. Whatever happens, good luck to you and know that not all fans at least will be against you.

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